


Return to the Crystal Maze

by Mars_McKie



Category: Doctor Who, The Crystal Maze (TV)
Genre: Alternative TARDIS, Crossover, Gen, References to Rocky Horror, TARDIS - Freeform, The Crystal Maze - Freeform, Time Crystals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2015-11-03
Packaged: 2018-04-22 23:18:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4854440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mars_McKie/pseuds/Mars_McKie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some years have passed and all of the contestants have disappeared from the Crystal Maze. Richard O'Brien and Mumsey are at their wits end when the Doctor and Donna turn up. All is not as it seems and a familiar Satellite brings with it an old enemy that the Doctor thought was long dead...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I will probably go back and change the title, but it's late and I wanted to upload what I've already written tonight.  
> I don't know yet how many chapters there will be though I know how the story is going to pan out.  
> Enjoy, and see you in Aztec!
> 
> EDIT. I have just found out that David Tennant is billed to host a new special edition of The Crystal Maze so believe me I will be working on this some more! MM

“Mumsey, have you seen my jacket?”

“I washed it dear; it’s on the back of your chair.”

Richard O’Brien plucked the leopard-print jacket from the throne-like chair and pulled it on over his dark shirt, checked his appearance in the mirrored surface of a shield held by a suit of armour and smiled wickedly. A fitting host for a wealth of contestants, despite the fact that the contestants had long since vanished from the Crystal Maze.

Richard turned around to observe the state of the Medieval Zone that he and Mumsey called “home”. They had taken to the loss of contestants in different ways-Mumsey had a habit of making things untidy on purpose, covering them with her trailing shawls and leaving all manner of items on the table ready for when Ralph (the caretaker) would come by and obsessively clear it up again. The place was a bit of a tip but they loved it, and so their lives went on. Richard sighed with boredom as he watched Mumsey work.

“I’m taking a walk over to the Industrial Zone,” he announced with a slight drawl. “Don’t wait up Mumsey.”

“Do take care in that old zone dear, you know it was closed off and archived years ago,” Mumsey reminded him, but Richard was already running up the stairs and across the rope net, remembering the thrill of leading a team to each new zone in turn. This running through the zones was how he dealt with the loss as he imagined contestants trailing in his wake, him calling over his shoulder for them to keep up.

The dark stonework gave way to brushed metal walls, corrugated floors and oil drums covered with a layer of dust, the faint sound of gurgling water echoing deeply as it filtered through into the new Ocean Zone. Why Richard had chosen today to visit this old zone he didn’t quite understand- he just knew he needed a change of scenery. Time moved strangely in the Crystal Maze; several days often felt like they’d been condensed into an hour, though Richard was almost certain they had been trapped in the Maze for several years now.

He ran his hand along the top of the metal handrail, observing the derelict zone beneath him, gave a slight sigh and the sound bounced off the dust, only to be met with a new noise. A noise which he had never heard in the Crystal Maze before. It was a strange combination of whirring and whooshing, some sort of machine. Richard watched in astonishment as a blue police phone box materialised in front of the pool.

The blue light on the top cast shadows across the walls and he ducked down under the handrail, half hidden, his smile wide again. This could only mean one thing- new contestants!

After a moment the door of the phone box opened and a man wearing a faded dust jacket, pinstripe suit and red converse shoes ( _Very stylish!_ Richard thought) stepped out.

“This isn’t right,” he declared in a Scottish accent, halting as he took in his surroundings.

A girl with shoulder length brown hair and bangs wearing jeans, t-shirt and brown leather coat ( _two contestants- I can make this work!_ ) followed him out of the phone box. "What went wrong this time?”

“We’re supposed to be on Arcadia, this feels more like Earth,” the man replied, frowning around the place, taking in Richard's beloved cobwebbed staircases.

“A disused factory on Earth,” the woman mused, drifting contently as she looked around. “Nice job spaceman, well hopefully here you can get a driver’s licence for the TARDIS because you do not know how to drive it!”

“I don’t need a driver’s licence!” The man took a weird metal instrument from an inside pocket and stared intently at the green buzzing light on top.

“Well if we’re not on Arcadia then where are we?” The woman asked.

“You are in the Industrial Zone, quite a lovely little zone, this is where I create all the games, you know.” The woman jumped and the man looked up in surprise as Richard slid down the banister towards them. “But it’s such an awfully long process and I haven’t created any new games for quite a few years, so I’ve rather fallen out of the habit.”

“Oh my god,” the woman was staring wide-eyed at him before giving an excited shriek. “OHMYGOD! You’re-”

“But where are my manners?” Richard took the woman’s hand and kissed it lightly on top. “I’m Reckless Rick, your congenial guide to the Crystal Maze.”

She gave a shocked laugh. “You’re Richard O’Brien!”

“That I am. And might I have the pleasure of knowing your name?”

“I’m Donna Noble,” she almost curtseyed in excitement.

Richard beamed kindly at her before turning to the man. “And your name sir?”

“I’m the Doctor,” he replied, as if this answered all questions. Nevertheless Richard took his hand and brushed his lips lightly on them. This caused those eyebrows to rise up into his forehead.

“Donna and the Doctor,” Richard said to himself. “Most charmed.”

“This can’t be right,” the Doctor said, taking back his hand.

“Oh but it is,” Richard said. “I take it you are here to play some games?”

“Can we?” Donna was bobbing on the spot. “I watched this show all the time when I was younger, I mean-” Here Donna caught herself. “Younger as in the last time I saw this show, but I always wanted to go on it!”

“And now you can,” Richard’s smile spread from ear to ear. “I must tell you it is something of a relief- it’s been years since the last batch of contestants came through this way.”

Donna’s expression was replaced by one of confusion. “Really? Why’s that?”

“Who’s to say, one day they just _stopped_ ,” Richard flashed his hands impressively. “And I’ve been waiting here for new contestants ever since.”

“Why didn’t you leave?” Donna asked.

“Perhaps is because he’s stranded out here in space?”

Both Richard and Donna turned their heads to look at the Doctor. “What did you say?” Richard enquired politely.

“According to the Sonic Screwdriver we _are_ in space, in orbit around the Earth so most likely in a space station of some sort,” the Doctor said, indicating the metal buzzing instrument when he said Sonic Screwdriver. “Which would explain why you wouldn’t be able to leave. The question is- how did you get up here? Or perhaps _why_ are you up here?”

Richard frowned. He wasn’t even aware that he had left Earth. Was he even aware he'd left Earth? It almost felt like that was a possibility he had once considered but long pushed to the back of his mind.

“Doctor, what would the Crystal Maze be doing on a space station?” Donna murmured.

“I don’t know but I’m going to find out,” the Doctor said, turning back to Richard. “How do we get out of the maze itself?”

Richard considered this. “The simplest way out would be through the same way you got in, that is- through the entrance. Though that door is one way only.”

“I have something that might be able to open it,” the Doctor smiled. “Could you lead us there?”

Richard perked up. This was the moment that he lived for. “Of course! Follow me, team!”

The Doctor and Donna ran after Richard as he hurried down abandoned corridors, finally catching him up as he arranged some disused oil barrels to climb over a locked security gate. The Doctor leapt over first and Richard offered Donna his hand, helping her over the top before spritely bouncing over himself. The Doctor was already waving the buzzing Sonic Screwdriver at the door which let contestants in but let no one out, however on this occasion the door slid open.

Excitement rushed through Richard. He hadn’t left the Crystal Maze in years and now he was worried at what he might find. Was he really on a space station? As they stepped out of the Maze the Doctor’s jaw dropped.

“I’ve been here before,” he muttered slowly.

“Doctor?” Donna’s voice was creased with concern.

“This is Satellite 5,” the Doctor said. “The Gamestation.”

This obviously meant as much to Donna as it did to Richard. They both wandered through the line of computer screens, stepping over a mass of cables. If Richard had thought the Medieval Zone looked messy then it was nothing compared to this place- it was derelict.

“Some time ago in the year 200,100 this place was run by Bad Wolf Corporation,” the Doctor explained. “People would be taken from Earth and forced to take part in the reality TV shows here for the entertainment of those down below. Of course it turned out to be a signal beam cover to hide the Daleks while they harvested bodies to convert into their own kind.”

“The Daleks were behind this place?” Donna turned in alarm.

“Well, not just the Daleks…” the Doctor’s voice trailed off. Richard looked out of a window and saw the Earth down below them, a beautiful blue orb on a sea of darkness.

“We really are just insects crawling on the planet’s face,” he sighed at the sight.

“Yeah, but as far as insects go we’re doing pretty darn well,” Donna reassured him.

The sound of the Doctor typing on the dusty keyboards and jamming leads onto sockets brought them both back. Within seconds he had managed to get one of the computer screens working again.

“What are you doing?” Richard asked.

“Every other programme on Satellite 5 was hosted by a robot, so why go to the bother of taking a game show set and its host all the way from from the 90s?” the Doctor explained, waving his Screwdriver like a magic wand over the computer until letters and numbers filled the screen. “Time to get some answers.”

* * *

 

On a different spaceship not too far away angry voices rang out.

“Energy signals being received from Satellite 5!”

“Someone is accessing archive records!”

“Bring them to me! The technology on that vessel must be protected!”

“Activating security measures onboard Satellite 5!”

“Exterminate the intruders! Exterminate! _Exterminate!_ EXTERMINATE!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On Satellite 5 the Doctor, Donna and Richard O'Brien discover that the threat of the Daleks is not as far away as they would have hoped. Returning to the Crystal Maze they make a startling discovery...

Richard leaned against the rows of computers and stared out into space as the Doctor and Donna worked behind him. The Doctor seemed to work best with Donna as an audience, explaining his methods and sounding smart as she struggled to comprehend what he was on about. Richard had amused himself for a short time by fixing a strange gadget which seemed like a prototype designed towards time travel, powering it with a spare Time Crystal he’d found in the bottom of his pocket.

Eventually the Doctor finally called out “Here we are!”

Richard ran over to where the Doctor and Donna stood and followed their gazes down to the screen. A number of files flashed up displaying data.

“What does this mean Doctor?” Donna asked; her eyebrows high as she tried to make sense of it all.

“It means that the Daleks spent a gargantuan amount of energy to bring the Crystal Maze into the future to this place. But most of the files have been erased, so whatever it was they needed the set for must have been unsuccessful. But why the Crystal Maze? And more to the point-” The Doctor turned to Richard. “How did you survive when everyone else here died?”

“You mean the last time the Exterminators came round?” Richard smiled grimly. “They killed my last batch of contestants when we were mid-show. I had to grab Mumsey and hide in the Crystal Dome. Their lasers couldn’t penetrate the crystal walls, you see. And then after a while they blew themselves up.”

“Rose. Rose blew them up,” the Doctor corrected him. “So that wasn’t the first time you’d seen them?”

“Oh no, they came and visited from time to time; they seemed to like hanging around Future World,” Richard said. “So long as they got some contestants every so often they didn’t give me any trouble.”

“You knowingly went along with their plan?” The Doctor looked incredulous.

“Oh my god…” Donna interjected before an argument could start up. “You know how you said the TV shows were hosted by robots? You have got to be kidding me!”

Richard and the Doctor followed Donna’s line of sight to where a -until recently- defunct Anne Droid was creaking towards them. It raised its head.

“Run!” The Doctor yelled. But as they turned-

“ _You are the Weakest Link. Goodbye!_ ”

The transmat beams hit them all squarely in the back. They experienced a horrible lurch forward and landed facedown on a metal floor.

“That was unpleasant,” Donna groaned.

Richard helped Donna to her feet but the Doctor was already stood, facing down a line of golden Daleks that were filing into the room.

“Long time no see!” The Doctor called out to them, trying to act cockier than he felt in their presence. “Not much has changed for you lot, still the same silly pepper pots you always were. Remember me?”

“You are the Doctor,” the nearest Dalek vocalised angrily.

“And you are the Daleks,” the Doctor replied, his anger mounting. “But how did you survive when the rest of your lot were destroyed in Satellite 5?”

“We are many,” one Dalek answered.

“Daleks always survive. Daleks will continue until all kneel before us in submission,” another Dalek said.

“And then what?” Richard asked, a genuine note of curiousness in his voice. “When you have destroyed everyone else will you be happy then?”

“Insignificant. Daleks do not feel emotion.”

“Then why bother bringing me forward in time, because it couldn’t have been for the irony of making me do an actual time warp?” Richard joked calmly.

“Your presence here was accidental. The Daleks have shown mercy in letting you live to serve our purpose.”

“So Ritzy sent you humans to turn into your own, you then got a distress call from your Emperor and you came running,” the Doctor pieced together. “But by the time you’ve got here the war has long been over, so why don’t you go home now and none of you need to get hurt.”

“Incorrect. Your threats are empty.”

“You have no weapons.”

“Your usefulness has been outlived. You will be exterminated!”

Richard saw how this was going, grabbed the Doctor’s and Donna’s hands and powered up the repaired prototype gadget.

“ _Exterminate!_ EXTERMINATE!”

But as their guns fired the trio disappeared in a flash of light. Their beams hit the wall.

“Energy emissions show they have been transmatted back to Satellite 5.” “Locate the Doctor and his companions! They will be exterminated!”

 

* * *

 

The Doctor, Donna and Richard landed back in the control room of Satellite 5 with a bumpy landing, bouncing before falling back onto the floor.

“How did you do that?” The Doctor asked, annoyed that someone else had saved them but at the same time grateful. Their conversation with the Daleks had disintegrated faster than he had expected.

“With a little help from an audio-vibratory physio-molecular transport device!” Richard winked at Donna, holding up the gadget.

“A Vortex Manipulator!” The Doctor gasped, grabbing it. “Jack must have experimented with building it before he managed to escape from here. But how did you manage to get it to work? And what on earth is this powering it?”

“That would be a Time Crystal. Usually used for powering the Crystal Dome. One use only, I’m afraid,” Richard explained as the Doctor examined his handiwork.

“I can’t believe you were sending people over to the Daleks,” Donna whispered at him.

“Of course I wasn’t,” Richard replied. “I disarmed their transit beams long ago. People might be fools for letting themselves get locked in but they didn’t deserve that fate. No, every once in a while I sent up a skeleton from the Aztec Zone disguised with some of Mumsey’s drapes. They never knew the difference.”

This seemed to improve the Doctor’s and Donna’s view of him- certainly their disapproving looks eased.

“Did you honestly think I would allow those exterminators to disintegrate my innocent contestants?” Richard raised an eyebrow at the pair of them. Donna looked slightly ashamed of herself for thinking that way.

“Daleks,” the Doctor murmured. “They’re called Daleks.”

“And they’re on their way here now.” Donna pointed out of the window and sure enough they could see the spaceship in the distance, from which a number of Daleks were disembarking, drifting eerily towards them.

“Back to the maze. Now!” The Doctor yelled, pushing Richard and Donna ahead of him. They ran across the control room, dodging a feeble beam from the Anne Droid as they went, back through the security door and into the maze. However in the time that they had been away things were different.

“This isn’t the way we came in,” the Doctor observed of the sheet metal door standing in their way.

“The maze has changed which entrance we enter through, it does this for each new team,” Richard explained, stepping up to an intercom. “Hello, Computer? Are you there?”

“ _Hello Richard, how are you?_ ” a female voice replied.

“I’m very well but we need to get into the maze now please, can you let us in?”

“ _Certainly. But first you must answer a question_.”

The Doctor sighed in annoyance and Donna glanced around nervously. How long would it be before the Daleks were coming through that security door?

“What’s the question Computer?”

“ _What coat can you only put on when it’s wet?_ ”

Donna’s brow creased. “A rain coat?” she whispered.

The Doctor shook his head. “A coat of paint of course.”

“ _Correct_.” The metal door slid open and they rushed inside.

“Thank you Computer,” Richard called. “And if you could not let in any of those nasty exterminators I’d be much obliged.”

“We need to get back to the TARDIS now,” the Doctor said, turning to Richard. “It’s a time machine- we can drop you back in the 90s, but this place is about to be overrun with Daleks. It’s not safe here.”

“And it’s very lonely here too. I’ll need to get Mumsey and Ralph first- I can’t leave them here,” Richard explained, adding as they entered the control room- “Hello Computer, you’re looking very sexy today!”

“ _As are you_!” came the flirtatious reply. The Doctor stopped in his tracks.

“No,” he said faintly as he stared in disbelief at ‘Computer’.

“Doctor, what is it?” Donna asked.

“It’s a TARDIS console.” Donna’s jaw dropped.

“Do you mean like your time machine?” Richard asked. He had long since wondered as to the origins of Computer, it being a find from the Production team when they had started to become conscious about saving money on the set.

“This must be the reason why the Daleks targeted this show in the first place,” the Doctor murmured, stroking the console in the same way that he often stroked his own TARDIS. Richard couldn’t help but feel possessive at the sight of it. “They must have left it here when they couldn’t get it to work, but with a guard to stop anybody else from taking it.” The Doctor pursed his lips. “It’s far too dangerous to leave behind in the hands of the Daleks. It’s a bit derelict, but with some repairs, wire it up to the TARDIS to give it a kick-start… but it wouldn’t be able to support it in transit, it would need to be able to produce its own power from somewhere else…”

“All of the power in the maze comes from the Crystal Dome,” Richard explained reasonably. “But it takes a large amount of energy to start it. If we can get enough Time Crystals together then we should be able to power Computer through the Dome for however long we need in order to get back to the 90s.”

“Brilliant!” the Doctor exclaimed. “How many Time Crystals have you got?”

“I haven’t got any more on me,” Richard explained, his eyes glinting in excitement despite the circumstances. “If you want Time Crystals to power the Dome then you’ll have to earn them the proper way.”

“You mean!” Donna gasped.

“That’s right- you’ll have to play the Crystal Maze!”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In order to get the TARDIS console working again, the team will have to power it with crystals they have won from the games. Doctor and Donna set to work with Richard leading the way, but will the Daleks catch up to them?

After the Doctor had transferred the TARDIS to the Future Zone, done all the necessary wiring that would kickstart the old TARDIS console and had been reassured by Computer that she would stop any Daleks from getting into Future Zone, Richard took the Doctor and Donna up in a lift into Aztec Zone.

“I’ve worked it out that after the TARDIS has done the initial start-up the Crystal Dome will need at least 40 seconds of power to get you back to where you came from,” the Doctor explained as the lift rose.

“Each time crystal proves 5 second of time; that means you will need to get eight crystals,” Richard reasoned. Light flooded through the doorway at the top of the shaft and after they stepped out of the lift heavy doors swung shut behind them, barring their way back into Future Zone. If they wanted to get back in they would have to go around the long way.

Richard took off his coat and put on a pair of dark sunglasses.

“Welcome to the environmental playground that is the Aztec Zone,” Richard said, leading them across the sandy floor towards a line of doors. “Donna, would you like to start us off?”

“Yes please!” Donna was bouncing with excitement.

“What type of game should we give to Donna?”

“Ooh, a skill game please!”

“How long would you like?”

“Can I have three minutes?” Donna battered her eyelashes hopefully.

“We’re in a hurry so you can have two minutes,” Richard smiled grimly. He opened the door and Donna jumped down into the room. A partitioning wall blocked her path and she had to climb over a bucket and onto a seesaw to get through to the other room.

“Can you see the crystal?” The Doctor yelled, sticking his head through a helpful window.

“I can see it!” Donna shouted. It was on a ledge near the ceiling just out of reach, and as Donna started up towards it the seesaw tilted taking her down and way from it. “I can’t reach it! The seesaw keeps on tipping down.”

“Is there something else in the room that might be able to help you?” Richard called through. Donna looked around wildly. There was nothing in this larger room except the seesaw and the ledge.

“Donna! Here! There’s a shovel!” The Doctor yelled excitedly, pointing into the corner of the smaller room. Donna leaped back through. Of course! She could fill the bucket with sand so that it would take her weight and she could balance on the seesaw. She couldn’t believe it had taken her so long to figure it out, this one had been a classic challenge on TV! She started shovelling sand as fast as she could, trying to make up for the time wasted in her stupid moment.

"Thirty seconds remaining!” Richard shouted. It was now or never- Donna climbed back onto the seesaw and inched forward. Though it tilted as she moved upwards, the angle was just right and reaching out she grabbed the crystal from the perch.

“I’ve got it!” She screamed, bounding back into the smaller room and banging hard on the door. It opened and two beaming faces welcomed her out.

“That was sensationally quick!” Richard stated, taking the crystal from her. “And we’ve got our first crystal! That’s five seconds of time for the Crystal Dome, so let’s keep this pace up. What game would you like, Doctor?”

“An easy game!” The Doctor said.

“An easy game? I don’t think I have an easy game,” Richard said in a bemused fashion. “You can have a physical game and two and a half minutes to do it in.” The Doctor was led over to another door. “You’ll need every second of it, so in you go, and don’t get locked in!”

With Richard's warning ringing in his ears, the Doctor stepped down into the room. At his feet was a pool of murky water with wooden steps spaced some distance apart in a row, some with metal poles connecting them, some without. At the other side of the room was a wagon. The Doctor leapt nimbly from step to step over to the cart where he found the lid was padlocked closed. Looking up he saw a key and tried to use it to unlock the padlock, but the key jammed.

“It’s locked! And the key’s not working properly!” The Doctor called out, reaching to take out the sonic screwdriver.

"Oi! No cheating! Is there another key in there somewhere?” Richard hinted helpfully.

“The key is over here Doctor!” Donna called from near the entrance, and looking around he saw the key attached to the opposite wall by a chain and a pile of metal poles that he had ran right past.

“Oh right, I have to get the wagon to that side of the room?”

“That’s right- complete the train track and unlock the wagon to collect the crystal!” Richard explained. “And you’d better get a move on, time’s ticking away.”

It wasn’t as easy as the Doctor had initially believed- all of the poles were different lengths, quite heavy and the effort in going back and forth for them was tiring. Not to mention Richard had taken out a harmonica and was serenading him.

“Thirty seconds!” He shouted some time later. The Doctor slotted in the final pole and bounded over to the wagon. It was heavier than he had realised and had to put all of his weight behind it to get it moving down the tracks.

“Ten seconds!” He grabbed the key and shoved it into the padlock, unlocking it and forcing the lid open-

“Five, four-” There was the crystal! The Doctor grabbed it. “Three-” He banged on the door which mercifully opened and he scrambled out. “Two, one.” Richard shut the door behind him and it locked with a definite click. “Talk about cutting it close!”

“Considering you’re a Time Lord you were nearly out of time!” Donna joked.

The Doctor held up the crystal. “Don't. Five more seconds of time!”

Donna cheered.

They managed to complete two more games in the Aztec Zone- Donna managed a nasty little Mystery challenge while the Doctor redeemed himself slightly by completing a Mental game in the fastest time that Rick had ever seen. The furious look in the Time Lord's eyes was replaced by one of satisfied smugness.

“OK, we’re doing well team, and we might have time for one last game in this zone,” Richard started, but was cut off by a loud banging noise from the entrance to Aztec. Running round the corner they saw at the other end of the river two Daleks filing onto the small platoon.

“Any chance those things don’t know how to use canoes?” Donna asked hopefully.

“Elevate!” The Daleks rose a few inches off the ground and floated eerily over the water.

“RUN!” The Doctor’s voice triggered something in their minds and they all ran off at great speed.

“Here!” Richard yelled to the Doctor and Donna, leading them down into the old tunnel system that connected Aztec to another zone. They were crawling along like rats up a drainpipe away from the Daleks and soon the low tunnel walls changed from golden stone to bronze metal lit by emergency lamps. Richard kicked a vent cover out of the way and led them out into Ocean Zone, a golden room lit with magnificent chandeliers.

“Welcome to our next zone, Ocean World,” Richard introduced spectacularly.  "Here we are in the main salon on board the SS Atlantic. I’m sorry about the drip, there’s a leak somewhere.” That was a slight understatement. Several leaks were pouring water down into the salon and despite the plentiful buckets the carpet had a spongy quality under their feet. The smell of seawater was everywhere. “But then we’re around 20,000 leagues under the sea so what do you expect? OK Donna, what game would you like?”

“Need... a second... a mental please,” Donna breathed, her heart pounding. The initial excitement had burned off slightly after the reminder from the Daleks that they were still very much in danger, and she saw that the Doctor was looking around nervously too.

“If you’d like to follow me.” She was led over to one of the doors lining the wall. “You can watch on this monitor here, Doctor,” Rick indicated a TV screen before opening the door. “You’ve got two minutes to solve this, piece of cake.”

Donna rushed in and the door closed behind her. The panic was set in her mind and for a moment she didn’t see the detail of the room. Blinking a couple of times she saw a wall of pigeon holes facing her, on the wall to her right were flags with a letter or number underneath each one (some sort of code or key obviously) and on the table was a key with the first two flags on it.

“OK, I see what I have to do,” Clara called out, locating the flags on the diagram which gave her G and 5. Finding the correct place she unlocked the first pigeon hole which yielded another key with two shields.

Here was a loud banging on the door.

“Donna, the Daleks have arrived! We’ve got to go!” The Doctor yelled through the door. Donna abandoned the key and rushed at the door, banging to be let out. Back out in the salon the two Daleks from before had somehow followed them and were now advancing.

“Exterminate! Exterminate!” they chanted in unison, firing deadly energy beams in their direction. The Doctor pulled Donna out of the way and Richard dived behind a statue which promptly had its head blown off.

“This way!” Richard leapt out from behind the statue, grabbed the Doctor and Donna and pulled them past the Daleks who spun around wildly. They made it into the engine room where they were ushered towards a ladder. “Up, up!” Donna went first followed by the Doctor, but Richard had grabbed a spanner and was whacking madly at one of the leaks, forcing the holes to become wider and soon the pressure of the water was torrential.

The Daleks entered just as Rick’s heels disappeared up the top of the ladder.

“Computer, if you’re there could you close off all access to Ocean Zone?” Richard called out and a heavy door closed over the top of the ladder. “Let’s see if those Daleks can swim!”

Donna was breathing heavily, leaning against the stone walls. As the Doctor moved towards her Richard pushed past them.

“I’ve got to check on Mumsey,” he muttered. Following him into a messy medieval banquet hall they saw a woman draped with shawls rushing towards them.

“Oh Ricky, you’re safe!” she exclaimed on seeing him, holding his face in her hands. “I was so worried when Ralph said he’d seen those exterminators in the maze again, but I’m so glad you’re OK.”

“They haven’t gotten into Medieval, have they?”

“Oh no, they couldn’t get past the portcullis, and…” Mumsey paused on noticing the Doctor and Donna. “Who are they?”

“Our new contestants, they're going to get us out of here” Richard whispered coyly. Mumsey gave an excited gasp and grabbed hold of Donna’s wrist, dragging her towards her room. It was all Richard could do to call after them “er, it’s a two and a half minute game Donna! And no conferring Doctor!” and Mumsey pulled the door closed. “Poor Mumsey, she so rarely got any visitors anyway, these last few years have rather gotten to her.”

Inside, Mumsey sat Donna down in front of a crystal ball and peered at her over the top of it, delight twinkling in her eyes.

“Well my dear it is wonderful to have a contestant again,” she beamed at Donna. “I’m Madame Sandra, she who knows all and reveals nothing.”

“I’d be happy if you could reveal the crystal though,” Donna winked.

“Very well dear,” Mumsey sighed in a bemused way. “If you could just cross my palm with silver…”

Mumsey held out her palm but Donna stared at it blankly. “I don’t have any silver.”

“Oh Ricky, you forgot to give her the silver pieces!” Mumsey cried.

“I can pay you after the challenge if it’s any help!” came "Ricky's" reply.

“Oh wait- I do have this-” Donna plucked off a silver ring she’d been wearing and placed it in Mumsey’s hand. Her fingers curled around it appreciatively and she unravelled a scroll.

“Lovely, very nice. Now then, I’m going to give you three questions. All you have to do to get the crystal is get one of them right,” Mumsey explained. “Now listen carefully- which five letter English word would be pronounced the same if you took away the last four letters?”

Donna didn’t have to think on it for very long. “Queue!”

“Very good!” she glowered, waving her hands over her crystal ball before lifting it up to reveal the crystal underneath which she handed to Donna.

“Thank you very much Mumsey!” Donna gave her a quick hug before exiting. Richard slipped in before the door closed and slipped into the empty chair.

“Such a polite girl,” Mumsey mused.

“Listen Mumsey,” Richard said, taking her hands in his. “Those two reckon they know a way to get us out of here. We just need a few more crystals and then we will be on our way home.”

“Home?” Mumsey gasped. “I should start packing!”

Richard left Mumsey to it, not bothering to try to explain that she didn’t have to pack. Establishing that it seemed safe enough for the moment to continue, they played two more games (a Skill game for the Doctor and a Physical for Donna) and won two more crystals. So it came that the Doctor was facing the final Mystery game.

“You’ve got three minutes,” Richard said, opening and closing the door behind him. The room he was in had been dressed to look like an office with shelves, filing cabinets, drawers, posters on the walls and a man at the table who had been stabbed in the back.

“Want to bet the crystal is in this safe?” The Doctor said, bending down to examine it, trying a few combinations.

“If it is then you have to work out the logical route to get to it,” Richard warned.

The Doctor bit his lip and did his best with the clues that presented themselves, but this room was so much harder than anything that had come before, even with Donna’s shouting and Rick’s cryptic hints.

“Is there anything else in the room that might be numbered?” he called when the Doctor became stuck after trying to count the post-it notes on the board.

“No!" the Doctor murmured, getting more and more frustrated by the second.

“Thirty seconds!”

“Blast it, I’m getting the crystal and getting out of here!” From his pocket the Doctor drew out the sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the safe.

“What is he doing?” Richard’s eyebrows creased together. The sonic screwdriver buzzed, a spark burst from the safe and there was a loud audible _click_ from the door.

“Uh oh,” Richard muttered, trying the handle before pushing the door with his shoulder. On the other side the Doctor had noticed something was wrong and had also directed the sonic screwdriver at the door, but it was too late.

The Doctor had been locked in.


End file.
